Waking Up Never Hurt Anyone
by jiiMINDS
Summary: Emily wakes up in her boss's arms. How did they manage to get themselves in this situation and how will they react towards eachother afterwards? can only read to find out! :D HP fic, of course. multi-chapter. R&R! :
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: Heyy everyone! soo, this isn't my first fic, but it is my first on this account. Me being the fool i am, I can't login to my old account!! (long story)  
_

_So please go on SSAgeorgiaa if you like this story and want to read more. The other three stories I posted on there are quite short, but still a good read :)  
_

_ANYWAY, back to the part you actually care about! I wrote this story originally planning on it being one, long fic. But I think i'll have to make it a couple or few chapters. Mainly because I think the start of the next part will sound better as a new chapter :) I dont know, that's how my mind works. Also, I got the inspiration for this story from another HP fic I read a few weeks ago. Unfortunately I haven't been able to find it. If I do find it thought I'll definitely post it on here so I don't feel so bad for not doing so.  
_

_So in this chapter, Hotch and Emily have a "moment" and they aren't sure how to react about it afterwards... Anyway, something happens in the next chapter to make them both think that the other doesn't feel the same as they do... But don't worry! they'll be together in the end! haha This is a bit of a case-fic as well, but I'm not sure if it'll stay that way. i'll see if I can think up a good case to go along with it. anyway(again), happy reading! and reviewing! ;)_

_Georgiaaa_

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds *sigh*

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**Waking Up Never Hurt Anyone  
**

* * *

Emily thought she was still dreaming when she woke in Hotch's arms.

Her hands were rested against his chest and her head was cupped by his right arm underneath it.

She twitched a bit in his grip, feeling the floor beneath them. She realised she wouldn't be dreaming about having Hotch wrapped around her… Not on a hard and extremely uncomfortable surface, anyway.

What had happened? Why was Hotch so closely wrapped around her? And more importantly, why could she feel his calloused hand on the bare skin of her back?

She tried to trail her thoughts back to the events of the night before. She was obviously still in the conference room of the BAU. _JJ had been talking about a new case… Had there been a black-out?_ Her mind's ramblings were disturbed when she heard Hotch mumble something, "Emm-ly…" his eyes fluttered open. He looked around the room. He moaned slightly, to rid his tiredness, "Wh… What time is it?"

Emily had watched him regain his memory a lot easier than she had been able to. "I don't know… Wha -" She stopped when his eyes suddenly locked with hers. It was too much. They were too close. He leaned his forward so their lips met, and they shared a brief but incredibly tender kiss.

Emily shot up from their position. "Hotch!" her eyes widened from the realisation of what had just happened. "I, uh, I… I'll go put some coffee on!" She lifted herself off the ground, feeling his hand slip from underneath her blouse. Before Hotch could even think of something to say, Emily had already walked out of the conference room, clearly flustered.

She made her way down the steps of the bullpen, trying not to focus on what had just occurred, but what had the night before. She walked towards the resident kitchen, one hand in her hair and the other on her lips where the feeling of Hotch's lips remained. She jumped when she saw Rossi leaning against the counter sipping at a mug in his hand.

"Did I scare you?"

"Uh, no, sorry, I just came to make some coffee."

"Looks like I beat you to it," He smirked. Rossi had been the first to wake up, closely followed by Morgan. Both of whom had seen their two colleagues lying next to each other. Morgan, unlike Rossi, had simply shrugged it off. What had surprised Rossi more than finding Emily and Hotch sleeping together was, in fact, how _little_ it had surprised him.

"How did you sleep last night?" Rossi asked slyly, passing her a mug.

"About as comfortable as you can on carpeted floor."

He nodded, satisfied with her answer, "They cleared up the snow and the power's back. We should be good for the case now."

So it HAD been a black-out. And suddenly it came back to her.

"_Prentiss, come over here." "No, Hotch. Seriously, I'm fine." It was pitch black, around midnight and she could see his stern face in the beam of the small flash light he held. "Prentiss, the heat is off and you're shivering. It's only logical."_

That's all it was. They were just – innocently - sharing body heat. Nothing more, nothing less.

At least maybe until this morning.

"Hey guys," JJ approached them, "I just got off the phone to the state police department .The Sheriff was pretty distressed when we didn't arrive last night. The jet's here in 20 minutes. I'll have to run the case by you once we're off ground."

Rossi and Emily nodded and they each went their separate ways.

* * *

The team assembled outside the jet in their coats and jackets, Hotch being the last to arrive.

"Okay, let's get going"

Hotch stood at the bottom of the stairs waiting for his team mates to get inside. As Emily reached the bottom of the steps they glanced at each other awkwardly and he walked in after her. He was surprised when she quickly made her way to be seated next to Morgan, but showed no evidence of it.

Emily rushed her way over to sit next to Morgan so she could eliminate any chance of her sitting near Hotch. It's not that she _wanted_ to avoid Hotch. But she didn't trust herself next to him, and he hadn't seemed to notice anyway. Was he planning on just being ignorant of what had happened? These thoughts made something tug in Emily's stomach. Had it been meaningless to him?

"JJ" Hotch indicated to her, sitting in the seat opposite Morgan and JJ taking the seat next to him.

"Okay, so three victims found within the past three weeks, Katherine Davis, Heidi McBride and Elizabeth Rogers," the team passed around photos of the crime scenes and files as JJ handed them out, "all in their early-mid 20s, found with multiple stab wounds."

"Heidi McBride was a brunette and the other two were blondes…" said Rossi holding two photos, one of Heidi McBride, the other of Elizabeth Rogers.

"Could be more than one unsub then? Each with different tastes - Taking turns at picking their victim. We've had cases like that before," said Morgan.

"Yeah, but they were usually group killings – a family. It wouldn't take much for someone to overpower these women alone," Reid contradicted. Morgan nodded in reasoning. "In Fact 86% of…" Reid continued into one of his usual ramblings.

Emily looked at Hotch, who was, apparently, listening to Reid. She was trying to find some sort of emotion in his face, but was unsuccessful. She sighed sadly.

"Okay kid, we get it," Morgan stopped Reid, a hand on his forehead.

* * *

_Thanks for reading! What did you think? I'll have more up soon. hopefully. _

**Update 12.40am 28/2/10****:**_ I feel like even more of a fool right now. I just realised I used two names of victims that weren't supposed to be in this story! It's alright now! fixed it! sorry if you early readers noticed it. I'll be sure to check over the story more thoroughly from now on. :|  
_

_Also, is anyone else having major Criminal Minds withdrawals? HURRY UP MARCH 3RD!!_

_Georgiaaa :)_


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: Hi everyone! I know, it took me a while to get this up! I'm yet to successfully climb out from under a bigpile of assignments :(_

_But anyway, it's finally here! Chapter 2! I decided to not really show the entire case, otherwise it would have taken me longer to finish this story. Anyway, a bit of a H/P interaction here, not much, but there will be more later on. And I like to keep things realistic. Happy reading! and reviewing! :) Rated T for a couple of bad-ish words.  
_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds.  
_

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**CHAPTER 2:**

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14th February 2006

The lunch bell rang at Newington High school and a young, timid boy opens his locker to find the Valentine's Day card he had made for a Serena Bale ripped to into small pieces. Breathing heavily and adjusting his thick rimmed glasses, he picked up one of the larger pieces. The pink-coloured paper read:

"DEAR CORBETT,

BITE ME."

Serena, appearing behind him with a group of snickering followers began to taunt the teenager with names before another group of alpha-males started, "Well would you look at that, Corb's valentine rejected him!"

"AWWW CORB, IT'S OKAY! YOU CAN BE MY VALTENTINE!" said another, while the rest all laughed and cheered, "And we could watch a movie under the stars and later you can walk me to my doorstep. You might even get luck-"

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT THE HELL UP!" A sudden burst of anger overwhelmed Corbett and he spun around launching a book at the crowd.

They jumped. "Alright, alright," they said, the mockery died down and they began to walk away, "freak."

The young boy clenched his fists and took a deep, slow breath. He picked up the book, stored it and silently walked away, head down.

* * *

The case had proven to be a hard one, but at least now they had a suspect.

Corbett Bass. Black hair, blue eyes, 21 years old and a cashier at Dome, a café which was located about 20 minutes from where the last victim lived. He had also lost his place at Yale about a month ago.

Unfortunately though, the last victim had not been Elizabeth Rogers, but Serena Bale. It had taken the team a week and a half to find him, and another woman had fallen victim because of it.

Serena Bale: 22 years old, blonde hair, green eyes, aspiring actress.

These thoughts ran through Hotch's mind as he made his way through the State Police Department's corridor.

* * *

Corbett Bass, young and blue-eyed, sat in the interrogation room with Reid, who was sitting across from him, and Rossi, standing.

Rossi slammed down a photo of a bloody Elizabeth on the table.

"I suppose you know who she is," he said, more of a statement then a question.

"I have no idea," the suspect replied.

"But you _do_ know who these women are," Rossi lined up two more photos; Katherine Davis and Serena Bale. "You went to school with them."

Bass flinched, "And so did about 900 other kids."

"Not when they both went to different schools."

"I moved around a bit as a kid."

"It must have been hard, moving so often as a teenager, no?" said Rossi, "And what about her?" he placed the last photo of Heidi McBride down, whom they knew he had attended college with.

Reid began with clearing his throat, clearly uncomfortable with the tension Rossi was creating, "It says here you suffered severe anxiety as a teenager."

"Tell me, why was it that you moved?" continued Rossi, knowingly.

Bass crossed his arms defensively, "I was bullied, so what?"

"Did you tell anyone about it? A teacher maybe?" asked Reid.

He snorted "Like they could do anything about it."

"They can only hurt you if you're afraid to ask for help."

"I did ask. Apparently the only way to help me was to send me off to another school... Like that made any difference."

* * *

Hotch, unsuspecting of finding Emily watching the interrogation, walked inside the small room on the other side of the two-way mirror.

"I was beginning to think you were avoiding me," Emily smiled, her dark eyes looking straight into his. Hotch cleared his throat and quickly focused his vision on Bass and the two agents with him.

During that week, Emily had been paired up mostly with Morgan. Hotch hadn't purposely been trying to avoid her; he just hadn't had much time to think about what had happened between them because of the case. Now that he managed to find her alone, he felt blood quickly rush to his face. He couldn't bear to let her see that, so he folded his arms and said nothing, hearing a sigh come from her.

Emily turned her attention back to the scene on the other side of the room. Her stomach was doing somersaults. She knew what she wanted, but was enough of a realist to know it was never going to happen. _Why does it have to be so awkward?_ She was determined to quit the silence, "so, you think he's our unsub?"

"I know he's our unsub," he replied.

Emily nodded and they continued to watch in silence. Hotch sighed, what was wrong with him? "But it doesn't matter what I think," He continued, "If we don't get a confession then we've got nothing but coincidence. And that isn't going to go down well with that lawyer waiting outside."

"Well it's a good thing we have Rossi in there then." She said taking a quick glance at him in her peripheral vision.

* * *

"Is that why you murdered Katherine Davis?! Because she bullied you?!" bellowed Rossi.

"No!" Bass was clearly beginning to get frustrated.

"What about the other two victims? Did they bully you too?"

"Look, I didn't kill those women!" He said, breathing rapidly.

"Were you so incapable of defending yourself?"

"And you haven't a shred of evidence to prove it!"

"Were you that much of a freak?!"

"SHUT UP!" he cried, making both Rossi and Reid to draw backwards, "THEY DESERVED IT! They deserved to die…It was them. It was always them," he was whimpering now, "They deserved to die…"

Rossi took a quick look at the glass mirror.

* * *

"We've got him," said Emily, both her and Hotch quickly rushing to the door.

* * *

"But what about Elizabeth Rogers?" asked Reid, "You had no connection to her. In fact, there was probably little chance you having interacted."

"She doesn't fit. She didn't bully you. So why?" continued Rossi.

"She would have," Bass said, now having composed himself, "Given the chance, back then, she would have. I know she would have. I was only doing to them what the kids they tortured wanted to."

* * *

_A/N: So again, sorry for this having taken me so long! Hope you guys enjoyed it anyway! I wasn't sure at how well i write case-fics :D Please do leave a review! It'll keep me going as fast as I can. And yes, I do have another chapter to go!_

_Georrgia :D_


	3. AN

**A/N:**

_Hello , I'm here to assure you that I AM STILL ALIVE!_

_I'm so sorry I haven't updated, I swear the guilt is killing me, but I've had so much going on lately. I recently got my first job and also these past few weeks have been full of assignments. And when I didn't have an assignment due I had an English essay or a chemistry test… So my apologies again!_

_And also, I'm here to tell you that the holidays are coming up in two days(yay!) BUT, unfortunately during it I'm going on a family trip for a few days(boo!) so, if I don't get the story done within the next one or two nights(when I probably won't get any homework), you might not get it until another week. IM SO SORRY! DON'T HATE ME! _

_Jii :S  
_

_P.S. i'll make sure to post my old stories/oneshots/shortfics up too._


	4. Chapter 3

_A/N: I know what you're all thinking; FINALLY!!! Well, here it is. R&R!_

_I was building up to this chapter the whole time, so I hope you all enjoy it!  
_

_Disclaimer: I wish.  
_

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**CHAPTER 3:**

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The jet had been quiet that night; the team having fallen asleep almost instantly, relieved with the fact that one more monster was locked away for good. Everyone that is, except Hotch. But this time, it wasn't the case that kept him awake. It was her.

Hotch sat at the back of the plane making an early start on his paperwork, hoping he'd be able to see his son for longer after a long week away. Unfortunately though, Hotch was unsuccessful. The occasional moan or flinch coming from Emily Prentiss, who was fast asleep a few seats down from him, was enough to keep his mind occupied with other matters. His eyes looked over her with fondness. She had a vulnerability about her when she slept that was so rare for her.

He wondered what she dreamt about. In fact, that night, he found himself asking many questions he hadn't before. He wondered what her aspirations were. What her favourite colour was, her favourite flower, scent, food. He wondered why he didn't know the answer to all those already.

Every time she moved in her sleep, Hotch's eyes would dart back to the paper in front of him and he would start writing again.

~*~

Morning came quickly as everyone settled into their usual spots in the building of the FBI.

"Hotch." A voice came from his office door, but not from the person he had hoped.

"Dave, what's up?" Hotch said, finishing the last sentence on his report. Rossi took his time with examining him before starting. He had been watching Hotch and Emily's interactions since the blackout. It was not entirely, but somewhat of a mystery to him. Hotch would look at her when she wasn't looking. And Emily would do the same when he looked away. But it wasn't the way they looked at each other that bewildered Rossi. It was that neither of them had done anything about it. He slid his hands in his pockets.

"Is it me, or does Emily seem to be acting differently lately?"

Hotch kept himself composed but inside he flipped at the sound of her name, "I'm not sure I know what you mean?"

"Has something happened between the two of you?"

His eyebrows furrowed even further, "Why do you ask?" _What does Rossi know? _

"Well it might have something to do with the fact that she's done nothing but stare at you this past week," Hotch cleared his throat, "and you've done nothing but ignore her."

"I'm not ignoring her," he said quickly, "I have no idea what you mean. I'm sure she's just tired from the case. We all are." Hotch said, trying to put things straight.

"If that's what you want to call it." Rossi stayed standing and for a moment the two men just stared at each other. Then Rossi broke it by sitting down. And suddenly Hotch felt grateful for the desk separating them. "Okay, I'm done being subtle. Aaron, cut the crap!"

"I'm sorry?" Hotch's eyebrows rose.

"I'm not going sit around and watch you miss the best thing that's happened to you in a long time"

"What are you talking abo-"

"Emily, Aaron." Rossi said quietly, sitting down in the "Emily... Don't let her pass you by"

Hotch sighed and relaxed slightly in his chair. There wasn't a chance he could hide from Rossi and he'd been foolish to think he could. "David, it's just, the fraternization rules… And I know you think that's just an excuse but -"

"Do you think the rules would matter if she confessed her _love_ right now?"

He was right. If it turned out Emily felt the same way, he knew the rules wouldn't mean anything to him. He knew he would be with her one way or the other and nothing would stop him. Hotch began to feel elevated as he grew in confidence.

Rossi smirked and slouched back in his chair, seeing the hint of a smile on Hotch's lips. "Well, my work is done here," He lifted himself off the chair, and left Hotch to figure the rest out for himself, which he knew he would.

~*~

"Hey, I wouldn't mind giving you some files of my own," Morgan teased, watching Reid fly through the paperwork almost as fast as he could read. Reid ignored him, becoming more ecstatic with every word he wrote.

It had been a day since they arrived from Kansas, and like most of the - rarely - boring days at the BAU, the three agents passed the day the only way they knew how to; with laughter.

"Nuh uh," joined Emily, throwing a ball of paper at Morgan, "If you do his you have to do mine as well." Both agents were very much aware of Reid's tuning out.

Morgan smiled, "Only after mine's done."

Emily huffed before turning her chair back around to her desk. She read 19:06 on her desk clock. One more file before she could get out of there. 

"Prentiss, could I see you in my office please?" She looked up and sure enough Hotch stood outside his office looking down at her.

Emily took a moment to think. She wasn't ready to face him. Not yet.

She couldn't brush off her feelings, no matter how hard she tried. But she at least thought that, maybe, she could get used to them. Used to having to see him every day, and used to having to hear her name come from his surprisingly _soft _lips. She shook her head. _Why am I even worrying so much? He's probably just checking in on my paperwork. He's probably forgotten about "it" already. _And with that thought she lifted herself off the chair and shrugged at the questioning look Morgan gave her. She gallantly walked up the steps of the bullpen. The tug in her stomach pulled so tightly she thought surely she was going to be sick. But she had become so very well acquainted with that tug before. And it was called 'fear'.

"Hotch?" She definitely didn't want to stay in his office for long. Who knows what she'd end up saying or doing. "Uh, sorry, the files should be done in a few minutes. If that's -"

"Emily…"

Her first name. This definitely wasn't about work. She felt so vulnerable, standing in the middle of his office. Why did he get to hide behind his desk?

"Emily, I thought we could talk about the week before?" He said. The tug twisted_. _She had been on this side of the story too many times to know the outcome. Why was it so hard for her to compartmentalize when it came to matters such as this? She didn't want to have her heart broken. Not by her boss. Not by, what she considered, one of her closest friends. Not by Hotch.

Hotch had only been in love once and since Haley's death, after Foyet, he could hardly remember what it felt like. But the one thing Foyet had unintentionally taught him, was that it shouldn't be taken for granted. He wasn't sure about love, but he liked Emily Prentiss. He liked her very much. And that was definitely something he wasn't to pass by. Not now.

The silence grew long, so Hotch began, "I know we both probably _don't _want to ta -"

Emily sprung; she didn't want to hear it.

"Hotch, don't worry about it. It was a mistake. I know it was." She figured the words wouldn't hurt as much if they came from her. What she didn't know was how they would hurt her superior, "I get it. It definitely won't ever happen again. You don't have to say anything. It meant nothing."

The last three words stung the hardest. He starred at her, eyebrows furrowed, trying to remember the kiss, and missing of the sheer desperation her face expressed. _Had she even kissed back?_ He suffered a sudden loss of memory and a sudden burst of confusion.

He cleared his throat, "Good." He lied, now looking at her feet, "That's all then."

Emily tried her hardest not to look as though she was hurrying out of Hotch's office, because that was exactly what she was doing.

She wanted to get out of there, but she still had one file to go through. And then she would have to submit it to him. That definitely wasn't an option. No, she was going to get out of there.

~*~

After recollecting his thoughts, Hotch picked up his pen and began writing again, unsure of what he wrote. If it was optimism that he had felt when Emily first walked into his office, then it had comically disappeared with a poof.

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_A/N: Thanks for reading! And for those of you who are following, and still reading, even with my lack of chapter-updating-ness, well, Thanks! :) _

_Let me know what you think, looks like they've screwed things up a little bit, hey? :S_


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